


Smoke on the Water (Fire In the Sky)

by AceQueenKing



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Post-Canon, Seasickness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-31 04:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12674913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/pseuds/AceQueenKing
Summary: Merrill and Isabela leave Kirkwall, but Merrill has a hard time adjusting to life on a boat.





	Smoke on the Water (Fire In the Sky)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ironyman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironyman/gifts).



Bella looked through her cabin carefully before picking her largest, fanciest Captain's hat for Merrill.

It wasn't that she thought the hat would change Merrill's mind, would make her feel any better about what had happened to Kirkwall, which was still a flaming wreck that was visible on the horizon. It wasn't even that she thought it might distract Merrill from what had happened to Marian Hawke, who had run off with her mage terrorist boyfriend. Merrill was somewhat startled by that, but Isabela could relate to Hawke: she, too, had acquired an appetite for dangerous men and women. 

It was, simply, that her girlfriend was seasick, and Bella thought that a bit of kindness might make her feel better. 

She approached Merrill slowly, the large, well-plumed hat in her hands. Merrill was sitting on the ship, her head resting against the side of the pow. She was sweating, but clammy; her skin was paler than usual, the dark circles behind her eyes softer and easier to see. 

Poor kitten. Quite the landlubber.

"How are you holding up?" Isabela asked, crouching down next to her. Merrill smelled of vomit and sweat, along with the ash that still dotted her clothing from the fires of Kirkwall. 

"Surviving," she said, quietly, her head ducked down into the salty brine of the sea air. She couldn't help but admit her kitten; she clearly wasn't able to cope with the choppy waves, but she wouldn' complain about something she couldn't fix.

"I suppose I should be thankful you made it to Kirkwall in the first place, my pet," Bella cooed, her hand curled around Merrill's neck. "One wonders how elves can even cross the sea if you're as sick as this, kitten." 

"Not all elves," Merrill panted, leaning toward her. Despite the smog trapped in her clothing, Isabela embraced her. What was love, if not the ability to overlook someone smelling like a damn fireplace? "I was always the worst at - ooh, oh no, by the dread - "

Isabela was able to turn her around in time, letting Merrill twist and stare into the water until the feeling of seasickness went away. 

"Sorry," Merrill said, curling up into a small ball.

"It's alright." Isabela curled her arms around her, putting her hat on Merrill's head. The feather tickled against her head in the breeze; Isabela made a note that she would have to introduce Merrill to the joys of feathers in other sorts of games - if, perhaps, the girl could get past giggling. Certainly, she wasn't laughing now.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, closing her eyes and leaning into Isabela's arms. "Don't want to distract you."

Isabela ran her hand through Merrill's sweat-clung hair peeking out from her hat, her fingers gently pressing into her fingers onto Merrill's skin and cupping her face, pulling her toward Isabela.

"It's okay," Isabela said, softly, pressing a kiss to Merrill's own, clammy lips. "What is my life worth if I can't spoil my little land  lubber?"

"Mm," Merrill said, curling up in her arms and slowly closing her eyes. Isabela, picking up on Merrill's sleepiness, held her closer, pulling her into her lap. Scottie Two Fingers squinted at her as if he was going to give her shit.  "Don't make me make you Scottie  _No Fingers_ , Scottie."

"Yes'm," he grunted. Merrill didn't even react in her arms, curled up too tight in her dreams. Isabela shook her head and rubbed Merrill's back, trying to keep her in the fade, rather than occupying her miserable position on a ship. 

"Don't turn the boat around," Merrill muttered, her eyes still shut tight. "By the dread wolf, don't turn the boat around."

"Sleep well, Kitten,"  Isabela said, pressing a kiss to the tip of Merrill's pointy ear. With Merrill in her arms, she watched Kirkwall burn in the background. She had seen Kirkwall when the Arishok had declared war upon it and thought little would be worse than that; now, she knew that was wrong. The acrid taste of smoke and flakes of ash floated in her mouth, making her eyes water with the scent of blood, iron, and smoke. 

But, Isabela thought, it wasn't all bad. Hawke would keep Anders from doing more harm, she was sure of that, even if she knew that going off with him had cost Hawke more than Isabella had ever known. Love was a funny thing, she thought; it had brought Hawke to ruin, Hawke, so close to being a viscountess. Hawke, who had risen from nothing.  Now Isabela, who had come to the lands in a broken ship desperate for a sail, was leaving with the best part of Kirkwall tucked away safe and sound: the woman in her arms.

She wasn't a religious woman but she said a silent prayer of thankfulness for Merrill, who smelled like smoke and sea-salt but whose heart was her own. Merrill who hated the sea, Merrill, sick as a sea dog; it was not quite the courtly, tragic romance of Anders and Hawke, and that made it all he better. Merrill's love had changed her, made her better, made her stronger.She'd take that over being the inspiration for one of Varric's tales any day. 

She was going back to the sea, unsure as to what shores she would find herself in. But that mattered little; she had Merrill on her side, and that, in the end, was all that was needed. 

She curled her hand around Merrill's back, feeling Merrill's heart beat in time with her own. Kirkwall burned behind them, and Isabela watched it until it disappeared over the horizon.


End file.
